LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap.., Copyright No.. 

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UNITED STATES OF 



= AMERICA. 



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on 



FACTS AND FIGURES 



FOR 



INVENTORS AND INVESTORS, 



RELATING TO 



PATBNTS. 



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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. 



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Copyrighted By 

FREDERICK BENJAMIN, 

Solicitor and Attorney in Patent Causes, 

Warder Building, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
1897. 



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TYPES OF NAILS AND SPIKES. 



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A?V 



FACTS 

FOR INVENTORS, AND INVESTORS 

IN PATENTS. 



Frederick Benjamin, 
Attorney and Solicitor in Patent Causes, 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 



INVENTIVE GENIUS INEXHAUSTIBLE. 

The remark is often made that at the pres- 
ent rate of inventions it would be difficult 
in a f e"w years to devise anything nevp. For 
the benefit of those who are inclined to be- 
lieve such statements, and as an encourage- 
ment to inventors, I present on the opposite 
page the drawings in a group of patents on 
nails and spikes. It is difficult to conceive 
of a simpler device than a nail, and yet we 
here show over fifty different forms of pat- 
ented nails, and more than two hundred and 
twenty-five patents have been issued for im- 
provements in nails and spikes alone. About 
$30,000,000.00 are invested in the manu- 
facture of these little indispensable articles. 
If it be possible to accomplish so much 
mth a simple nail, who will undertake to 
fix the limit of inventive genius when applied 
to the thousands of devices, implements, 
machines and processes in constant use in 
the industrial arts ? 

PRACTICAL AND PROFITABLE 
INVENTIONS. 

If your invention be useful and practical 
it is likely to prove profitable. You may 
not get a fortune and the returns may not 
be immediate, but with persistence back of 
your ability to invent, you are almost certain 
to secure a fair reward for your thought and 
skill. In many New Kngland towns are 
found men, and women too, who are in re- 
ceipt of comfortable incomes in the form of 
royalties on the fruits of "yankee ingenuity." 
By and through inventions is a road to 
wealth which is barred to none who have 
the brains to invent, the money to secure a 
patent and persistence to push it. 

FOUNDATION OF SUCCESS. 
There are four corner stones upon which 
success from patents mainly rests. They 
are : 1st. The invention must be new and 
useful. 2d. The patent should be strong as 
to "every part of the invention. 3rd. The 



patented invention must be presented with 
persistence and ability. 4th. The title in 
the patent right must be good. 

It is the province of the inventor to supply 
the first, and usually the third of these con- 
ditions, while his attorney's business is to 
look after the second and fourth. 

By useful invention, I mean one that will 
save time, or labor or money or all three of 
these, or one that will increase comfort, de- 
crease suffering, add to human knowledge 
or increase human happiness. 

Too many patents are obtained simply be- 
cause it is possible to get them, and not be- 
cause there is any demand for the patented 
invention. These patentees disclaim against 
all patents because theirs' have proven profit- 
less. This is as reasonable as to claim 
that C and D should not invest in real estate 
because A and B have bought some worth- 
less lands. 

"Weak and worthless patents are too numer- 
ous. They are the products of inexper- 
ienced, careless or cheap patent solicitors. 
There is no infallible guide for selecting an 
attorney either for the prosecution of a law 
case or for obtaining a patent. The shyster 
can produce endorsements and references 
with the same facility as the capable practi- 
tioner. Imposing exterior, fine words and 
handsomely equipped offices are many times 
the cloak under which hides inexperience, 
ignorance or deceit. This was especially 
notable in the case of a former patent agent 
in Washington. He possessed all of these 
qualifications and did a very large business, 
but he knew nothing about the preparation 
or prosecution of a patent case and the 
Commissioner of Patents disbarred him for 
grossly deceiving and defrauding his clients. 
It is safe not to employ the solicitor who 
advertises that he possesses "special facili- 
ties " for getting patents ; or one who offers 
greater inducements than are offerred by 
other attorneys ; or one who offers to do 
something for nothing. 



WILL IT PAY? 

Many inventors ask me to advise them as 
to whether it will pa}' to obtain a patent. If 
their inventions are, in my judg-ment of an 
unprofitable character I frankly so advise 
them. But it may be diflicult to decide such 
questi(ms in advance. Many inventions 
which have at first appeared to be trivial 
and unimjiortant have turned out to be 
of utility and profitable. 

Before applying" for a patent if you want 
an investig-ation made to determine the 
probable demand for your invention, when 
patented, I will make such investig"ation by 
communicating- with manufacturers and 
dealers interested in such articles or machines. 
My charg-e for this service is five dollars. 

If you want an opinion zvithotit invcstiga- 
f/o//,<is to the probable demand for your inven- 
tion, I will furnish same without charg-e. 

THE PRELiniNARY EXAHINATION. 

If you have made an invention and con- 
template applying- for a patent, the first 
point is to learn whether your idea is new 
and patentable. Do not depend on the fact 
that you or your friends have never seen 
anything- of the kind. Send me a pencil 
drawing- showing- plainly your invention, 
and write out a description of its construc- 
tion and operation, as well as you can. If 
you have a model, send it, instead of the 
drawing-. I will compare your sketch or 
model with all patents issued in the United 
States for inventions resembling- yours, and 
for inventions in which similar mechanical 
constructions or principles are used. If a 
patent is found for an invention exactly like 
or closely resembling- your idea, I will send 
you copy of such patent. If nothing- is 
discovered to prevent g-etting- a patent for 
your invention I will so advise you. 

The charg-e for this service, unless other- 
wise ag-reed upon by special arrang-ement, is 
five dollars. This examination is an im- 
portant step in connection with every patent 
application and requires g-reat care and 
skill. An incompetent attorney may over- 
look a patent which closely resembles or 
completely anticipates your invention, or he 
may not know where to look. A dishonest 
attorney will purposely fail to find an antici- 
pating- patent in order that he may g-et the 
fee for preparing the application. The in- 
ventor is the loser in either case. Of course 
the attorney may accidently overlook the 
anticipating- patents, but if he does, he 
should repay to his client the fee charg-ed. 

If you want a/i ophiion, zvithoiit cxcvuina- 
tion as to the novelty or patentability of your 
invention, I will furnish same Avithout charg-e 
on receipt of the drawing- or model of your 
invention. 

THE APPLICATION FOR PATENT. 

Unless your application properly de- 



scribes and claims your invention, h patent 
may be refused, or if g-ranted, may turn out 
to be worthless. For this reason 'the Com- 
missioner of Patents advises inventors to 
employ compjctjcnt attok.n'Eys. Such at- 
torneys do not resort to quack schemes or 
shyster methods to obtain business. The 
incompetent and unreliable attorney can 
usually be disting-uished by the ''special in- 
ducements'' which he offers to prospective 
clients. See "vSchemes." 

When you have decided to apply for a 
patent, send me twenty dollars, and I will 
prepare and send to you, the petition, oath, 
specifications and drawing- in the forms re- 
quired by the Patent Office. After execut- 
ing the papers, return them to me with 
twenty-five dollars, and I will file your ap- 
plication and prosecute it in the Patent 
Office. This is the charg-e where the in- 
vention is of a simple form. If it is intri- 
cate the charg-es will be hig-her, but will be 
made known before the case is undertaken, 
so there may be no misunderstanding-. 

SUMMARY OF CHARGES. 

Opinion as to novelty and patentability of 
an invention, without examination of 
patents Free 

Opinion as to novelty and patentability' of 
an invention, afte?- tlioroiigli examination 
of United States patents S5.00 

Preparing- official drawing- — 1 sheet. 5.00 

Each additional sheet 3.50 

Preparing Oath, Petition, Specification and 

Claims 15.00 

First Government fee 15.00 

Prosecuting- application for Patent 10.00 

Total cost of application, including- exami- 
nation as to novelty, first Government fee, 
official drawing, preparing all papers, and 
prosecutino- application in Patent Office. . 50.00 

Within six months after application has 
been allowed, fne Government charg-es a 
final fee of 20.00 

Thus the total cost of a patent for a simple 

invention is ; $70.00 

Opinion as to probable demand for an inven- 
tion, wit/iout investigation Free 

Opinion as to probable demand for an inven- 
tion, after investig-ation S5.00 

NOTE. 

If I undertake to obtain a patent for you, and 
fail throug-h any mistake, fault or negliafence on 
my part. I will refund all the money paid for my 
services. 

I do not undertake to sell patents, but will assist 
mj' clients in disposing" of their patent rigrhts 
whenever I can do so. 

Rejected applications will be prosecuted, if after 
examination. I believe a patent is obtainable. 
For examining a rejected case, my fee is five dol- 
lars unless otherwise agreed upon. 

If you wish references as to my reliabilitj' and 
ability, I will furnish them. 

Correspondence on anj' subject relating to pat- 
ents or patent law, is invited. 

FREDERICK BENJAMIN, 

Solicitor of Patents, 

Room 1, Washington, D. C. 

Warder Building. 



SCHEMES. 

Patent solicitors and lawyers who make 
a specialty of patent law, as a rule are men 
of exceptional intelligence and ability, 
honest and higli toned in their professional 
relations, but as in other professions, there 
are some shysters and quacks who prey upon 
the credulity, ignorance of inexperience of 
their clients. Some of the schemes resorted 
to by these imposters are as follows : 

They offer to sell the patents of their 
clients without charge, or for a commission. 
After getting the business they do not sell 
the patents. 

They offer to make searches as to the 
novelty of inventions without charge. 
Their searches are made by boys or cheap 
men, and as a result, the work is carelessly 
or imperfectly done and the inventor is in- 
formed that his invention is novel only to 
learn, after paying from $40 to $50, that it is 
not new nor patentable. 

They send out lists of "inventions 
wanted " from which the inventor is led to 
believe that there is a special or certain de- 
mand for such inventions, when as a matter 
of fact there is no such demcind.. 

They offer prizes for inventions to be 
awarded according to the merit of the inven- 
tion. The prize is awarded by guess work 
or to the inventor who is likely to have 
other business. 

They represent that they have a purchaser 
for an invention provided foreign patents are 
taken out. After they get the fees for the 
foreign patents, the alleged purchaser dis- 
appears. 

They offer to obtain patents' without 
charge until the patent is issued, but after 
g-etting the inventor to send them his busi- 
ness they charg-e enough for the drawings 
to cover the actual cost of preparing- the 
papers where the work is done on the ' ' cheap 
John" plan. Tn order to get their fee they 
will accept a much narrower patent than the 
inventor is entitled to. 

PLAIN WORDS. 

No reputable professional man adopts 
sensational methods for bringing- clients to 
his office. No patent solicitor possesses su- 
perior advantag-es OA^er any other solicitor 
except suce as accrue from g-reater ability 
and longer experience. 

An inventor or patentee can usually sell his 
patent rights quicker and better than can any 
of the so called ' ' Patent Selling Agencies " 
most if not all of which are frauds. 

If an inventor cannot afford to obtain a 
patent at his own expense, he should try to 
interest one or more friends or acquaintances 
who in consideration of having part owner- 
ship in the patent, will furnish the necessary 
funds. If they have not sufficient confidence 
in the invention to invest the money neces- 
sary to obtain a patent, it is probable that 



the invention is not worth patenting, though 
of course there are exceptions. 

More good inventions are lost through the 
delay and carelessness of inventors in pro- 
tecting their rights, than through any other 
cause. 

When you have your Letters Patent, do 
not conclude that they are worth a fortune 
to you or any one else. If you are not in 
position to manufacture and sell the device 
you have patented, try to find some reliable 
person in the business of making and selling 
such devices and sell him your patent rights, 
either for one or more States or the whole 
United States. Sell for what you may con- 
sider a low price rather than not sell at all. 
If you cannot sell for a cash figure sell for a 
royalty, but be sure that you are dealing 
with reputable and responsible parties. I)o 
not place your patent in the hands of an 
agency to sell until you have found out that 
the agency is reliable. Usually the agency 
that promises the most is the one it is safe 
to avoid. 

IMPORTANT. 

It frequently becomes necessary for paten- 
tees to prove when they first conceived their 
inventions. To facilitate the furnishing of 
such proof, if you will answer the following 
questions I will record your answers in my 
secret files and send you a certificate of the 
facts as communicated to me and will pro- 
duce the record when needed. My charge 
for this service, including the certificate, is 
$1.00. 

What is the nature of your invention ? 

What is its object ? 

When did you first discover, desigfn or conceive 
the idea ? 

When did you first make a drawing' of it ? 

When did you first make a model of it ? 

When did you first try it in a practical waj' ? 

To whom have-j'ou shown your invention ? 

Answer the questions fully and accuratel3\ make 
a sketch of the invention on a separate paper and 
describe each part. 

Name in full 

Address 

Date 



CAVEATS. 

A caveat is a notice to the Patent Office 
that the inventor has made a certain inven- 
tion, description and drawing of which he 
files to show what the invention is. A 
patent for the same thing- will not be granted 
to anyone else during the life of the 
caveat, without notice. The Government 
fee for a caveat is ten dollars, and at the 
end of each year it may be renewed upon 
the payment of another fee of ten dollars. 
While a caveat does not prevent other parties 
from making and selling the invention, it 
does prevent them from getting a patent 
until they have shown that they are the 
first inventors. It frequently happens that 
inventors want to exhibit their inventions to 
capitalists with a view to securing their co- 
operation before applying for patents. This 
is always attendant with some risk unless 
the inventor has taken steps to put his in- 
vention on record. The filing of a caveat is 
the best means next to applying for a patent, 
by which he can protect his invention. My 
fee for preparing and filing a caveat is from 
ten to twenty dollars, depending on the 
nature of the invention. Another advant- 
age in a caveat is that it affords protection 
while an inventor is perfecting his inven- 
tion. This indeed is the primary object of 
the caveat. I do not advise the filing of a 
caveat except when the invention is incom- 
plete or the inventor is financially unable to 
apply for a patent. The average total cost 
of a caveat for one year where the invention 
is not complicated, is $25.00. 

DESIGNS. 

Patents are granted for new designs or 
shapes for articles of manufacture, such as 
jewelry, utensils, tools, furniture, patterns, 
&c. In many instances a design patent may 
be secured for a device which has no me- 
chanical novelty but which has a new shape 
or form. Such patents are granted for three- 
and-a-half years, seven years, or fourteen 
years, as the inventor may elect, and the 
Government fees are respectively SIO.OO ; 
$15.00; and $30.00. My fee is SIO.OO. A 
design patent prevents others from making 
the same article in substantially the same 
form, and thus affords ample protection. 

FOREIGN PATENTS. 

There are some kinds of inventions on 
which it is profitable to obtain patents in 
the leading foreign countries. Foreign 
manufacturers and investors keep a close 
watch on the patents issued in this country 
and appropriate to their own use anvthing 
of value they see. The onh' way to prevent 
this is to apply for the foreign patents be- 
fore the United States patent issues. 



The cost of procuring patents in Great 
Britain, Germany, France, Belgium and 
Austria, is about the same as a patent in the 
United States. After a patent is procured 
however, there is an annual tax to be paid, 
and in some of the countries, the invention 
must be actually introduced in order to keep 
alive the patent rights. 

Improvements in things of every day use 
whereby greater economy is obtained, are 
the inventions most likely to succeed in for- 
eign countries. 

I have correspondents in London, Paris, 
Berlin and other foreign capitals through 
whom I transact all business connected with 
patents in those countries. These corres- 
pondents make all translations and look after 
the cases in the patent offices of their re- 
spective governments. They pay the an- 
nual taxes and arrange for the introduction 
or working of the invention as required by 
their laws. 

ASSIGNMENTS. 

Any interest in an invention or a patent 
can be conveyed by assignment, or grant, or 
mortgage, or license, either before or after 
the patent is obtained. The conveyance 
must clearly identify the invention, or ap- 
plication or patent ; state the interest con- 
veyed, and should be recorded in the U. S. 
Patent Office within three months from the 
date it is delivered to the assignee or person 
buying the interest. 

Much confusion of patent titles and a great 
deal of loss to inventors and investors in 
patents, is caused by the laxity with which , 
transfers of patent rights are prepared. 
Lawyers who are entirely unfamiliar with 
the branch of law which relates to patents 
undertake to prepare assignments and grants 
of patents, with generally disastrous results 
to their clients' interests. Every agreement 
or contract relating- to patent rights, whether 
it be an outright transfer or a conditional 
or limited sale, a partnership matter or the 
organization of a corporation or stock com- 
pany-, should be prepared or revised by an 
attorney skilled in the patent law. My 
chtirge for preparing, and recording in the 
Patent Office, a simple assignment or grant, 
is $5.00. 

For preparing partnership agreements or 
articles of incorporation my charges are 
based on the amount of work involved. 

If -you are especially interested in ques- 
tions involving the titles in patented inven- 
tions send for my book on Patent Titles. 

FREDERICK BENJAMIN, 

Solicitor of Patents, 

Room I, Washington, D. C. 

Warder Building. 



HOW TO MAKE INVENTIONS. 

To invent is to think. Inventions are ideas in 
phj'sical shape or practical application. Anybod3' 
who can think, can invent. The power of invent- 
ing' increases with exercise. 

Accidents frequently sug-g-est new ideas, 
but the complete invention is usually the 
result of concentrated thoug-ht, careful in- 
vestig-ation and persistent experiment. The 
crude idea may come in a flash, and too 
many inventors in their anxiety to protect 
this idea apply for a patent before they have 
worked out the invention to its best develop- 
ment. 

An inventor to attain the greatest success 
must study his invention no matter how 
simple it is. If he adopts inventing- as a 
profession he must study the subject as the 
lawyer studies law, the doctor, medicine, or 
the engineer, engines. He should first study 
the needs of the public, beginning with the 
simple ones, then find out the existing diffi- 
culties in the art or industry to which the 
need applies, and then strive to overcome 
these difficulties. 

Pay no attention to lists of so called " in- 
ventions wanted." There is always room 
for improvement in every industr}-, and 
there is ever a demand for new industries, 
so that the field of the inventor is without 
limit. An inventor should select the in- 
dustry that he is most familiar with. He 
should note the work done by hand and try 
to think of a way to do it automatically or 
by machine. He should consider the cost of 
the tool, or machine, or process and try to 
think of a way to reduce the cost without 
impairing the quality. He should observe 
the product of an indtistry and see if it can- 
not be increased or improved. He should 
apply his thoug-hts to the problems of saving 
life, or property, or waste, or power, or time, 
or distance. When he has an idea which he 
thinks is new, he should put it in form of a 
working drawing or model, then study it 
with a view of making it stronger, or simpler, 
or cheaper, or in some way better. He 
should not get discouraged if he does not 
succeed at once or attain perfection. The 
world's greatest inventions were not devel- 
oped in a day. In the beginning they were 
the crude embodiments of great possibilities, 
and now after many years they are not 
perfect. 

A valuable invention may be made by 
omitting one or more parts of a machine, or 
by changing the positions of the parts, or 
by combining two devices in one, if by such 
changes a better result is accomplished. 

An inventor should not give up because 
his invention turns out to be old. The fact 
that some one else has thought of the same 
thing is a compliment to his inventive 
powers. If he can invent one thing he can 
another. In conclusion, give your best 
thoughts and efforts to your invention, and 
nine times out of ten you will succeed. 



HOW TO PROFIT FROM AN INVENTION. 

United States Senator Piatt, of Connecticut, in a 
speech in support of the Patent Laws stated "that 
two-thirds of the ag-g-i-egate wealth in the United 
States is due to patented inventions." This is 
certainly not an extra vag'ant estimate. 

Inventors who have not the means to 
enable them to make experiments, to obtain 
patents, to construct machinery and to in- 
troduce their inventions to the public, must 
have the co-operation of persons who can 
supply the necessary capital. From the 
statement of Senator Piatt above quoted, it 
is evident that capitalists stand ready to in- 
vest in meritorious inventions. 

The problem is to join the inventor of a 
good invention with the rig'ht capitalist. 

An inventor seeking to interest capitalists 
should first protect his invention, either by 
making- a sy/orn statement of when he first 
made the invention, or by filing a caveat, or 
by making application for patent. He 
should never exhibit an imperfect model or 
drawing of his invention. It should be 
presented in the best possible shape and 
under the most favorable conditions. Allow 
reliable persons to test it but always in the 
presence of some one interested in the in- 
vention. Describe it fully, fairly and clearly. 

In placing a valuation on the invention, 
consider it from a disinterested standpoint. 
Ask these questions : What is the field for 
such an invention? Is it so desirable that 
the public will adopt it in preference to 
what is already in use? Will the public 
have to be educated to its use? Will it re- 
quire an expensive plant to manufacture? 
Will costly advertising be necessary? Will 
there be competition? Can it be sold direct- 
ly to the public or must it be offered through 
agents? These are the things the capitalist 
will want to know. 

Have the invention "written up" in an in- 
teresting way and published in a paper which 
reaches the class likely to be interested in 
such inventions. 

If one man is not able or willing to put 
up all the money required, get others to join 
him. It is often easier to get ten men to in- 
vest SlOO.OO each, than it is to get one to 
man to invest §1,000.00. 

As to whether an invention should be sold 
on the royalty plan, in the form of state 
rights, or outrig-ht, depends on the nature 
of the invention, and the character of the 
men dealt with. 

Don't run the risk of losing a sale by hold- 
ing out for a high price. This is the rock 
on which most inventors founder. The pos- 
sible buyers for most inventions, are limited. 
Don't imagine that your invention is the only 
one being offered for sale. Always remem- 
ber : " There's a tide in the affairs of men 
(especially inventors) which taken at the 
flood, leads on to fortune." The inventor's 
flood tide is usually when he gets, what a 
disinterested person would consider, a fair 
offer for his invention. 



Commissioner of Patents, Simonds, in his report dated 
January 31, 1893, says: "Our inventors are the true nation 
builders; the true promoters of civilization. The}'^ take noth- 
ing from the public; they ask nothing from the public; they 
simpl)^ add to the sum of human knowledge, to the sum of 
human possessions, and to the sum of human happiness. 
With the Ruler of the Universe they show in humble degree 
His high prerogative of creation, and they only ask to enjoy 
for a little time the use of the valuable thing they create. 
The Greeks reserved their highest honors for inventors, and 
we shall some time attain to a civilization of like degree. If 
there be one class of men above all others to whom the 
American people are in debt, it is the American inventors." 

The Bell Telephone. 




A simple looking thing, but "there's Millions in it." 

The Patent Office received in the fiscal year ending June 
30, 1897, 43,524 applications for patents, 2,088 applications for 
designs, 80 applications for reissues, 2, 137 caveats, 1,964 ap- 
plications for trade-marks, 54 applications for labels, and 37 
applications for the registration, of prints. There were 23,- 
994 patents granted, including reissues and designs; 1,790 
trade-marks and 32 prints registered. The number of patents 
which expired was 12,584. The nurftber of allowed applica- 
tions which were by operation of law forfeited for nonpay- 
ment of the final fees was 5,034. The total receipts were 
$1,343,779.44; the receipts over expenditures were $317,135.05, 
and the total receipts over expenditures to the credit of the 
Patent Office in the Treasury of the United States amount 
to $5,093,614.23. 



COMPLIMENTS OF" 



FREDERICK BENJAMIN, 
Solicitor of Patents, 

WARDER BUILDING, 

WASHINGTON. D. C. 



